Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has asked the Defense Department to expand a study of Air Force tanker modernization options to include the Boeing 777 and contractor-provided aerial refueling.
The U.S. Air Force plans to conduct modeling and simulation activities in August to ensure its systems will be able to communicate with the Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS), an Air Force general said May 10. The Air Force intends to study whether networks will be able to move large amounts of information, and how quickly that information needs to be transferred, said Lt. Gen. William "Tom" Hobbins, deputy chief of staff for warfighting integration.
GOES-R: A Lockheed Martin-led team has submitted a proposal to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for the program definition and risk-reduction phase (PDRR) of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-R), the company said May 10. PDRR contracts are expected to be awarded this fall.
Navy Secretary Gordon England has selected the name "Freedom" for the first new Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), the Defense Department announced late May 9. "These new, fast and capable ships will increase the effectiveness of our naval forces and provide us with an ability to operate in the littoral areas of the world where the enemies of freedom seek to operate and hide," England said in a statement.
Science and technology firm Battelle of Columbus, Ohio, has purchased Bluefin Robotics Corp. of Cambridge, Mass., which develops autonomous underwater vehicles, Battelle said May 10. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Spaceflight pioneer Burt Rutan says all the new technologies for commercial, passenger-carrying space flights essentially have been developed and while "a lot" of early spaceflight companies will fail over the next several years, those that succeed should reap significant profits. "This is going to be a much, much bigger market than anyone imagined," said Rutan, whose Scaled Composites created the SpaceShipOne that won the Ansari X Prize last year.
Commercial space company Spacehab Inc. of Houston reported a loss for its fiscal 2005 third quarter of $500,000, and said NASA's delay of the space shuttle's return to flight had a "small impact" for the quarter, which will continue into the fourth quarter. The company reported revenue of $14.3 million for the quarter, down from $14.8 million in the same period last year.
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is expected to release a request for proposals (RFP) within the next month or two for an unmanned aerial vehicle to fly border surveillance missions.
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - Maj. Gen. James Pillsbury, head of the U.S. Army's Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM), is seeking to accelerate the implementation of condition-based maintenance (CBM), which would require maintenance of aircraft components only when they show signs of wear. Most inspections of Army aircraft today are performed according to regular schedules, which require automatic inspections whether a component is showing signs of trouble or not.
Australia has increased its defense budget to $17.5 billion Australian dollars ($13.5 billion) for the 2005-06 fiscal year with an infusion of $507.3 million, Robert Hill, the defense minister, said May 10. "Australians can be confident that our defense organization is now better placed than it has ever been to meet the complex security challenges we face," Hill said. Australia will spend: * $139.3 million to protect its offshore gas and oil platforms on the North West Shelf
The U.S. Air Force is almost done designing an initial set of upgrades to the F/A-22 Raptor and will soon start similar work on a later package of improvements, the service said May 10.
While a repeat of the Darleen Druyun case is unlikely, there's nothing to prevent it, according to the Defense Science Board. To make sure it doesn't happen again, the Defense Department must "simplify and streamline" its acquisition system, DSB said in a new report. Druyun, the former Air Force principal deputy assistant secretary, tilted work to Boeing Co. In the wake of the scandal, a DSB task force reviewed the acquisition processes of the military services and some Pentagon agencies, and met with a number of outside experts.
El Segundo, Calif.-based Computer Sciences Corp.'s Space Coast Launch Services LLC has been awarded a 10-year contract worth up to $335 million to provide space command operations, maintenance and sustainment support to the U.S. Air Force's 45th Space Wing for unmanned space vehicle launches, the company said May 10.
Raytheon Co. and EADS North America have set up a partnership to compete for a contract to produce the U.S. Army's Future Cargo Aircraft, Raytheon said May 10. Raytheon's Space and Airborne Systems (SAS) business and the EADS CASA North America business unit will lead the effort, Raytheon said. FCA would provide the Army with a new fixed-wing transport aircraft capable of rapid-response intratheater missions with cargo, equipment and soldiers, as well as medevac duties and airdrop delivery, Raytheon said.
Draper Laboratory officials said the lab's nonprofit status has helped it develop cutting-edge technology without having to worry about shareholders, and also positions it well for the future as guidance and control systems are becoming more needed throughout the aerospace and defense industries. The lab's groundbreaking work in micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) has helped it create technology such as a hardened guidance system small enough to fit on munitions such as those fired by five-inch Navy guns, and tough enough to withstand 15,000 Gs.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is adding forensic auditors to its Office of Special Investigations to create a larger, "high-impact" unit for addressing government programs of concern. The unit, led by GAO's Greg Kutz, will focus on selected high-risk areas within federal agencies and financial management of government programs. The Defense Department has eight high-risk areas of its own, and shares in another six across the government, far more than any other federal entity (DAILY, Jan. 26).
Congress should return NASA's aeronautics budget to 1998 levels to help assure the United States' leadership in aviation, a report by the National Institute for Aerospace says. NASA needs an average five-year annual increase of $885.5 million in its aeronautics budget, the report says, which would roughly double what the agency has requested for aeronautics for fiscal 2006 (DAILY, Feb. 8).
The U.S. Air Force is scheduled to stand up a squadron May 20 at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., to train pilots to fly the CV-22 Osprey. The 71st Special Operations Squadron, part of the 58th Special Operations Wing, will begin its work with several flight simulators. It is due to receive its first aircraft by June 2006, said Ward Carroll, spokesman for the Navy-led V-22 program office. "They'll be coming alive little by little," Carroll said May 9.
Northrop Grumman Corp. has placed a purchase order with Aurora Flight Sciences of Manassas, Va., to produce the company's first Hunter II unmanned aerial vehicle, Northrop Grumman said May 9. The order will serve as a test and demonstration system, the company said. The Hunter II will be built at Aurora's manufacturing facility in Starkville, Miss.
SERVICES CENTER: NASA on May 9 awarded a 10-year contract worth up to $230 million to Computer Sciences Corp. of Falls Church, Va., to support the NASA Shared Services Center (NSSC). The NSSC will be located at the Stennis Space Center, Miss., and handle a variety of activities now being done at each NASA center and headquarters. Initial operations of the consolidated NSSC are set for October 2005. Human resources, information technology, procurement and financial management functions will switch to the NSSC from October 2005 through September 2008.
